A short classical-style teaching passage
The following passage was newly written for practice and is not attributed to a historical work: 「ある人、庭の花を見て、『いとうつくし』と言ひけり。そばなる子、花の一つを折らむとす。その人、『折らで、ここにて見よ』と言へば、子、手をとどめて花を見たり。」 For this exercise, a note supplies 折らで = without picking and とどむ = stop. Read the actions in order and use the supplied note rather than inventing a missing continuation. The expression うつくし is being considered in a classical vocabulary context. A response should distinguish the adult's instruction from the child's initial intention, and it should not claim that a particular named author or historical date is established by this deliberately unattributed teaching text.
1. What does the adult ask the child to do?
Read the worked answer
Look at the flowers there without picking them. The supplied note explains 折らで, and the following action shows the child stopping the hand.
2. How should いとうつくし be understood in this context?
Read the worked answer
It expresses that the flowers are very lovely or dear. The response should use a suitable classical sense of うつくし, rather than mechanically assuming every modern meaning.